Categories:

Germaine Arnaktauyok was born in a camp near the present-day community of Igloolik. Since 1970 she has made illustrations for books, and her prints and drawings have been included in several group exhibitions. In 1999 her design of a drum dancer was chosen for use on a circulating two-dollar Canadian coin to commemorate the formation of the territory of Nunavut. The subject of this drawing is the powerful Inuit sea spirit known as Takannaaluk in the Igloolik area. She is shown, at the bottom of the drawing, under the sea with her father. Takannaaluk kept the game animals inside her crescent-shaped qulliq (stone lamp), and if people followed all her rules she would release the animals to the hunters.